Fabricated Connection
by AKhaos
Summary: Jaune begins to realize just how much influence the color red has had on his life as of late. The training he received from his late crush, Pyrrha. The exuberance and optimism shared by the passionate, but hurt, Ruby Rose. His Past, and his Future. Both of these worlds collide on him, and the Arc works to find a balance between his feelings, and his protective nature. Lancaster.


**_A/N: Hello there readers! Today, I've got an interesting story for all of you. So, outfits. Tragedy's effects on the present. And the realization on how a difference the color red has made on a boy's life._**

 ** _Now, this story is going to cover a situation that I debated myself with months ago, and I'm not sure how some people will take it. Some will accept this element and move on, others will poke at me and throw carefully collected evidence from the show to prove me wrong. I acknowledge this, and before you point this out, please note the disclaimer at the end of the story._**

 ** _Also, I have a special announcement at the end as well. Stick around, and you'll get a juicy piece of info._**

 ** _So, without further ado, please, enjoy!_**

* * *

It was funny to Jaune. Beacon Academy had been a school for aspiring Hunters to train and prepare for lifelong careers engaged against the evils the world had them dispose of. Jaune's time taught him to procure self-discipline, learn subjects that were only practical, and hone healthy habits that replaced the bad ones. One of those being sentimentality. His time on the road only reinforced this valuable rule. Exceptions, however, didn't care to follow the rules.

Jaune gently held the fabric, three pairs of eyes watching him silently to gauge his reaction. It was admittedly much less elegant, and so much shorter than Pyrrha's, but that didn't matter to him. It wasn't the same sash that she wore, obviously, but it didn't have to be. It's material wasn't silky, it was a firm, smooth cloth that was more practical to wear on person. Still, the message was clear, so Jaune gripped the cloth firmly.

Looking down at it, Jaune felt like crying without actually showing it, preferring to hide the pain away for now. However, this sadness dwarfed in comparison to the warm gratitude that ignited his heart. It made so little sense logically; it was a hastily resewed, torn red cloth. It shouldn't have meant _that_ much to the blonde. Again, not normally sentimental for such things. This was a major exception, however, and he so desperately tried to piece together some coherent words to fill the silence. He glanced up.

"..."

* * *

Jaune found red to have become a pretty prevalent part of his life after assuming the role of Team Leader. On top of the normal requirements of playing nice to a group of three other people that you had no other choice but to play nice with, heading your own group of said people didn't sound any better. Indeed, in the beginning days of his appointment as the face of Team JNPR, Jaune knew he wouldn't be having it easy. One wrong move and the blonde knight was either going to be demoted back to peasantry, or mauled to death. But to him, the potential consequences of the other side of failing terrified him a whole lot more.

No matter how you looked at it, he was a tadpole in a sea of sharks. No amount of 'post-hunter training' or 'lenience' was going to disguise the fact that Jaune was sorely outmatched in nearly every conceivable way. In the presence of _real_ Huntsmen-in-training, _real_ warriors, and _real_ heroes, he was a bumbling fool! In order to prove himself worthy of staying at Beacon, he had to match or exceed the expectations of the lowest possible requirements, despite those requirements being the pinnacle of impossible to the _highest_ normals out there.

There was no way that he had any chance of making it through this insane boot camp without being booted to death, or kicked to the curb. He would see red before all of this was over...

As luck would have it, he did. B-but, not in that way! No... as crazy as it sounded, seeing red pushed him to his limits. Seeing red taught him that perhaps not everything was as hopeless when you had the hopes of others around you. Red forced him to put things into perspective, and realize that wallowing in his self-misery already destined him to fail. The color red helped change his life, for the good, and for the bad...

The first time he really paid attention to the red cloth came from sparring with the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, preparing to kick his ass.

Pyrrha, for the sake of sportsmanship and modesty... and perhaps another more personal reason, went easy on him the first time. To his credit, Jaune didn't immediately fall to the Mistralian Champion, even if he couldn't pierce her defense. His shield acted as a buffer zone that blocked a majority of her attacks, leaving her frontal assault completely ineffective. For his first fight with her, he entertained the idea that he could win by tiring her out... before she decided to somersault over his now useless shield and play tic-tack-toe on his back. Yeah, what was he thinking?

Lying on the ground, aura dangerously in the red at this point, that was the only color he bothered to look at in his position! Watching the long fabric sway in the wind off to her side was all he could do to avoid looking at her face, which he knew held that same smirk every time she grasped victory... which now rested on him. Needless to say, Jaune much preferred his own self-deprecated humiliation than this. This process would repeat itself until the next semester.

Many times following that bout, many times more would he find himself facing that same defeat. This only served to motivate him even more to get back up, and continue to chase after her. He was a fool and a loser, but a quitter he was not. Many times he swung, many times she would dodge or block. The cloth just kept its elegant sway, rarely in line of danger when it flew and danced under the starry night, teasing him. Many times he desired that speed, that elegance, that strength, to find that sense of personal identity for himself. And with each try, many more to come, he became closer and closer...

Crocea Mors pierced thin air as his training partner continued her deadly dance. Instead of chasing her, he held back. Now that he saw her pattern, Jaune confirmed that his previous tactic used too many times to count just wouldn't work against her. He finally dropped the bad habit of mimicking her fighting style with a little bit of help, and chose to just watch the bronze-clad Spartan halt and copy his own heavy breaths.

"Getting better, I see," Pyrrha breathed.

"...Yeah, well," Jaune replied, slightly bent over, "I learned from some of the best." He easily complimented. She smiled contentedly to his double-sided praise.

She was back on top of him in no time; he didn't expect any less from his training partner. Slashing Milo forward, abandoning defense and evasion for a swift offense, Pyrrha side-stepped past the kite shield and used her forward momentum to graze Jaune's side. The admittedly slower knight could did little to stop her aggression, gritting his teeth as the color white flickered against his side and reverberated across his body. Too bad Aura couldn't completely nullify pain, or else battles like these would become _far_ easier to suffer through. Still, the pain was worth it for what came next.

After landing a successful blow, Pyrrha advanced forward, Akouo at the ready to knock him down and swiftly end this training spar. This time, Jaune wouldn't allow it.

Recovering quickly, Jaune used what precious few seconds he had to raise his much larger shield and bash it as the same time as Pyrrha dove. Despite being superior in experience and dexterity compared to him, physical strength just wasn't her strong suit, whereas countless hours of sword practice and endurance tests had honed him into an unrelenting tank. His forward charge proved more powerful than hers, leaving her stunned and forced to withdraw back a few steps, completely disoriented. He didn't waste any time.

Jaune was on her in a second, getting dangerously close. Pyrrha knew that if he stayed within her defenses, he would easily drain her Aura in a matter of a couple of well-charged swings. Her emerald eyes flickered and the air crackled with magnetic energy. Jaune knew what was coming, and hurried to prevent it. Before Pyrrha could completely grip Crocea Mors and push the advancing Knight back, Jaune prepared for a fool's gambit that he was completely unsure would work. Sheathing the blade back into place, he heaved the duo above her and back down behind her, slamming the tip against her chin along the way.

Before her mind could even process for her semblance to stop, both Pyrrha and Jaune stumbled backwards, reeled back intensely by her Polarity. Jaune had been slave to her Semblance enough times that he recovered quickly enough, but Pyrrha never expected her own powers to backfire on her, positive to negative in a split-second, and didn't prepare fast enough.

Utilizing the short period of control that he had remaining, Jaune slashed Crocea Mors as _hard_ as he could in a downward slash, red _flickered_. Then, he bashed her unprotected side, Aura _crackling,_ forcing the Champion to quickly regain her bearings and try to recover. In retaliation, Pyrrha danced behind him, red silk fluttering his vision. Jaune did what he could, slashing backwards, knowing full well she would parry it. Aware that any hesitance or confusion would seal his fate, Jaune blindly raised his shield and bashed, _barely_ halting the blade's tip from piercing his chest and pushing Pyrrha back. Their blades parried, steel and bronze clashing with _tings_ and filling the night sky with reverberations of battle's passion.

The Invincible Girl's cool confidence was shattered, teeth gritting, eyes scrunching into a desperate glare, and trying any method to tip the scales away from skewing to direct brute force. Flipping backwards, Pyrrha landed gracefully back on her feet and glided back towards him, still in mid-swing. Milo switched to spear form, thrusting the sharp end into his chest plate. It _hurt,_ for sure, and his body let him know as his upper abdomen screamed in pain, admitting full well that she'd landed a really good hit. Jaune shut his eyes sharply, scrunched; she had done a real number on him. However, unfortunately for her...

The sword, halted in mid-air, only hesitated for a moment, and ceased shaking. Adrenaline masked his pain and he opened his eyes, watching her smile morph in shock that he didn't reel back. The sword _pierced_ straight down, scathing against her unprotected arm.

...He had much more Aura, and tolerance of pain, than her.

Immediately in correlation with Pyrrha dropping the spear and landing ungracefully on the cement rooftop, two blares angrily ceased all movement. Jaune, in a moment of near disbelief, took out his scroll from his pocket and stared dumbly at the image in front of him.

There, below Pyrrha's neutral expression, her bar representing how much Aura she had remaining flickered that deep red that he only ever saw underneath his own. Speaking of, his own bar stood rigidly dark yellow, fairly above the threshold of danger. 42% in comparison to Pyrrha's shocking 9%.

Pyrrha must've realized this as well, whereas she looked at her own scroll with an unmistakably proud, full-blown smile, Jaune's face must've mirrored a child's in front of an algebra equation. He was completely dumbfounded, and the adrenaline swimming through his body certainly didn't help him fully understand this. But, what he did understand was that Pyrrha, his trusted partner, friend, and long-time sparring partner was on the ground, defeated.

Jaune walked towards the fallen Spartan, who still sat with that same expression: pride. Stopping in front of her, the Knight graciously offered his hand in modest truce, which she took in perfectly content stride. Standing back up, she wrapped her around him and hugged him with all of the pride he could ever accept, from the best partner he could have.

"Jaune," she said, out of breath. "that was incredible. I'll admit, you completely turned the tables during this fight, and I cannot say that I was expecting such an unorthodox strategy from you." Jaune couldn't help but grin sheepishly, scratching his head.

"I had... a revelation. I knew that everything that I was trying before this just wasn't working," he admitted. "So, after realizing this, I had some help to come up with a new battle plan that I thought might finally turn the tides. And, unbelievably, it worked!"

Pyrrha laughed, that good-natured laugh that he knew meant he did something right, and that there were no hard feelings. "Yes, it did. I miscalculated at the end there, didn't I?" Despite his hesitation, Jaune nodded apologetically. Pyrrha gazed downward, taking a look at her recovered weapon. "That was all on me, making a silly mistake like that. I think that I may have... panicked there at the end. Forgive me, Jaune, but I can't recall many people, or to be honest, _anyone,_ that has used my own Polarity against me like that. If you don't mind me asking; how did you create such a bold plan, Jaune?"

"Well," he drew out, embarrassed. "you see, it was mostly a dice roll." Pyrrha raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Jaune quickly answered. "N-no, not like that! I'm not _that_ careless! I knew that I would have to stop you from using your Polarity against me, and that was the only solution that came up; if I had to be pushed back, might as well force you along, too, right?" She made a nod, showing slight understanding. "Everything after that was pretty much intuition. If I had made a single mistake there, I wouldn't have won."

Pyrrha responded to that by placing a reassuring arm on his slumped shoulder, smiling. "Well then," she said, "it is a testament to your ability to adapt to the battlefield, Jaune." She then smiled that sweet smile, pride and happiness shining through. "I'm proud of you. This is a night where you overcame the odds and defeated me. But, rest-assured, next time will not be so easy!" Jaune couldn't hold back the adrenaline-lined grin, recognizing the mature, playful tone. "But for now, our training session is finished; I doubt that anything more we could do tonight would quite be able to top that. This is a night that I'm sure both of us will remember well for a long time to come!"

And with that, Pyrrha beckoned him to follow her back towards the exit. Her wrinkled sash waved lazily in the cool night breeze, and he relished the sight of it. He had finally bested her damned dexterity, with a plan that he was very proud of, but could not take full credit for. _Only most of it,_ Jaune thought teasingly, sporting a beaming grin. He hadn't been this happy for a long time, and he owed it to Ruby to get back to her and celebrate! But, he supposed that could wait another time.

The fight and the excitement kept swimming so vividly through his head that he doubted they'd even be able to stay out of his dreams. Pyrrha was so right, he would look back on this night again and again, probably for years to come!

* * *

 _Oh, how right you were Pyrrha. How right you were..._

"Jaune?"

Jaune's eyes snapped to his left, locking blue with magenta. The area they were hunkered down in was, to put it plainly, rocky. Green plains made way for more rigid rock formations and thinner canopies, and Jaune could smell the faint hint of Spring in the air. Flanking each man's respective side was Ruby and Nora. Ruby watched him carefully, curious, before locking eyes on the scene before him.

All four huddled on top of a small ridge to survey the area before them. Up ahead Jaune could easily make out a full clearing that seemingly led nowhere. The space wasn't unoccupied, however. Raising their snouts and using their extra-sensitive sense of smell, four Creatures of Grimm stood hunched at the other end. _C_ _reeps_ certainly lived up to their name, their unnatural forms surveying the area above their home. Their hind legs were the only legs they had, standing at an almost unnatural position were it not for their tails to keep them balanced. The creatures didn't have eyes, but their more reptilian instincts more than made up for their lack of sight. Jaune didn't have much combat experience against these things, but he knew that he didn't like them. The things were just too unnatural, even by Grimm standards; truly, they were the bastard children of twisted nature.

Jaune had to wonder how much trouble a single Creep could offer, since they were much smaller than their surface-dwelling cousins the Beowolf and Ursa. But shaking his head, he wouldn't let himself be fooled. If the trackers back at Burūberu were to be believed, there was an entire _colony_ of these creatures just a dozen or so meters beneath everyone's feet. Having made it 3 months ago, allegedly, the underground network these Creeps kept digging reached all the way to Burūberu village. Frequent pop-ups and the recently more common sinkholes appearing all over the place, their Mayor had offered a generous reward to all able travelers a fair sum of Lien that the group needed. Their task was to destroy the colony at its heart. And there was no telling how many they were going to face yet...

"Ren, Ruby." Jaune switched into leader mode. Both eyes locked on him. "You two have the most knowledge and experience about Creeps out of the four of us. Lay it down: what are they weak against? Should we fight close-up or keep it safe at a distance? And if you know what... animal features they have, that'd be helpful, too."

It still felt strange to him, to give an order to Ruby, although the two of them had agreed on a co-leadership system some time ago. There were a few slip-ups here and there, he would admit, like giving a direction at the same time, or confusing Ren and Nora during a fight. So far, though, the leader pair made fewer mistakes the more familiar they become with each other's leadership style and priorities. For this mission, Jaune was leading the way, so he was proving the Reaper's confidence in him today.

"Very well." Ren went first. "You should first know that Creeps have only existed within our knowledge within the last two centuries. Specifically, when the Kingdoms began experimenting new technologies through protective underground bunkers and railroad networks, the Creeps became more prevalent. They, as far as we can tell, are a mix between ground-based birds and reptilians. Also, they catch the scent of prey within a much larger area than other Grimm. For now, as long as we remain hidden at this distance, we should be safe."

So, once the battle began, more Creeps would swarm them. As Hunters still-in-training, Jaune mused that their best bet was to stay on the move. He nodded appreciatively towards Ren, and indicated for Ruby to add her piece. Time to get advice from their local underground, death defying expert.

"I've only fought against them once, at Mountain Glenn. So, they're really fast, even though they only have two legs. The only way they can hurt you is with their heads and teeth, so don't expect anything sneaky. Oh, also, those skulls look hard for a reason; if one gets a good charge on you, you'll be flying in the air faster than you can say rose petals."

He snorted in amusement, but Jaune took every word seriously and idly looked back to the hind-legged battering rams. He'd never actually fought against Creeps before, but there were plenty back at Beacon. He was afraid, because unlike the rest of his teammates, Jaune had no other option but to take the hits if he couldn't dodge.

Whatever plan he came up with had to be hard and swift, there was no room for dilly dallying with these things. Everyone regarded his contemplative face generally the same. Nora and Ren knew how effective their leader was at coming up with a battle plan on the fly, and looked worried little.

Ruby's should've been the exact opposite. She should be doubting him, thinking critically and logically right now, and preparing herself to bounce back on her own if the situation turns on them. But she wasn't. He silently thanked her for the support.

Jaune's nervousness seeped away from his voice. "As soon as we hit the ground, those Creeps will run at us. So, we need to hit harder and faster than them. Nora, you and I aren't going to be getting the drop on these things. As soon as we get down there and the Creeps are dead, I want you to test out the shock-wave function on Magnhild to draw the others out of the ground. Ruby will be helping you out with that."

Nora grinned a vicious grin and turned her maniacal stare at Ruby, who returned it with an excited nod herself. Ren smiled, amused, whereas Jaune sweat dropped for the sake of everyone involved.

"Ren, Ruby." The two of them looked back up. "You two are the most agile, so you jump through the tree branches and get to the other side, over there." Jaune pointed out the convenient closing on the other side, duel trunks facing away from each other just in front of the Creeps. "Nora and I will jump down quickly after you leave, and as soon as we've got the Grimms' attention, drop them." He ended, coldly. The two of them nodded in understanding.

"Nora and I will come in after. From there, we huddle up. And then... we improvise." All three of them stared at him with extreme incredulity. Jaune knew this was going to be their response, and he couldn't help the red glowing against his now warm face.

"We... improvise? Is that it?" Ren asked, regarding his leader warily.

"I'm serious." Jaune groaned exasperatedly. "I don't like this anymore than you do, Ren, I really don't. We just _don't_ know how many of them are underneath us. All I can really say is to stay as close as possible to each other, and don't separate." The reasoning was fair. Ren nodded, only a bit unsatisfied.

"Well," Nora said, eyes wide with excitement. "I think that if it's what we've got, it's what we've got!" Ren didn't look like he agreed much at all with her disjointed statement, but just sighed and nodded, breathing out with a steady contentment.

He turned his eyes to Ruby, who regarded him with a cool confidence. "I guess there's no way to be sure of anything right now, huh? As long as we stick together, we'll be fine." She grinned. "Bet that I can kill more than you!" She challenged as an afterthought.

The quirky smile had returned, and Jaune reciprocated in full force. His confidence in their survival would stay afloat as long as the others stayed positive. The girls more than made up for it, but Ruby's especially reassured him.

"Right." He looked back at the clearing. The Creeps hunched monotonously, still unaware of their presence. "We'll give you a minute to get over there. Good luck, guys."

Ruby and Ren nodded, taking off into the tree branches, ready to test this improvised strategy.

Today, some Grimm's black blood was going to be spilled. Hopefully the ground wouldn't be spilled with bitter red, instead...

* * *

..-And then, knowing that she was about to hit me in the back, I pulled a quick 180 and blocked her. It was _milliseconds_ before she hit me. We parried for a bit, and finally, as she hit me with her spear mid-swing, I managed to get past the pain, and hit her! She fell on the ground and our scrolls let us know the spar was over!"

"No way!" his crimson-clad friend exclaimed. "You finally won!"

Jaune felt pride and warmth surge through his system. His friend's unrestrained cheer went unnoticed by anyone within the relatively quiet Beacon gardens. This was, they guessed, their little quiet place away from everything. The role as team leader was hard, Jaune and her would both agree. The two of them loved their teams, almost like second families, but he mused that a little time away from major responsibilities. Walks like these with his cute close friend was a great stress reliever, and she reciprocated that.

"So," Ruby said, her red cape flowing lazily behind her signature outfit. "It looks like we have the latest match for the Invincible Girl, don't we Jaune?" She smirked. The hint in her voice was playful, and only a bit teasing.

He rolled his eyes. "Please. You yourself said that the plan would only work because of the surprise factor. That's the only reason I won. There is no way that I'm beating her again. During practice, or not." He countered, eyeing her with a 'really?' look.

He noticed the odd absence of Ruby's voice. Only the movement of her boots kicking dirt. Silent. Jaune's easygoing expression faded. Did he say something wrong? Before he could breathe a word out, she halted in her tracks. Confused, he stopped as well.

"...Why do you keep on doing that?" She whispered. The atmosphere had changed to something more uncomfortable.

Jaune looked at her slightly hunched form, only just barely gazing at him behind a lowered head and a mop of hair that dimmed the silver in her eyes. He opened his mouth, agape for only a moment before speaking up.

"U-um, what?" He never liked when Ruby's cheer dimmed. It was like a crime against Humanity for Ruby Rose's fathomless optimism to diminish.

Ruby lifted her head. She had a sour frown and a challenge in her eyes. "What you just did! Always putting yourself down. Always saying that you don't have a chance. I just, I don't know why... why you keep on saying you're not good enough."

Jaune felt himself flushing. This embarrassment was dwarfed only by the bitter thought that, yes, he was very self-loathing. He had every reason to be, considering how he was here, in this garden, being fortunate enough to walk within the prestigious walls of Beacon.

"Ruby, I'm not a good fighter, you know that. I don't have the courage that you or the others have." Jaune said.

"Well, I think that you're a liar." Those darned eyes of hers. Always piercing up at him with the ferocity of an Ursa, yet it also carried the insightfulness of any of their professors. "Come on, Jaune. Where is this coming from? We should be celebrating! Not moping about things that aren't even problems."

"But it is a problem, Ruby..." He shook his head. "It's always been a problem. Ever since Initiation, I've been constantly reminded just how unprepared I was for Beacon. It was only because of some quick thinking that I'm still here, let alone the leader of a group of students who look up to me to set the example. Me, a leader?" He chuckled. "Most of the carrying has been because of Pyrrha."

Ruby looked like she had enough, and ran in front of his sulky form. Her cape swayed behind her, catching his attention for a split second before her shining eyes and confident voice spurred his gaze. She grabbed his left arm.

"You. Are. Their. Leader." She said, emphasizing each word. "Not Ren. Not Nora. Not even Pyrrha. You are. And do you want to know why?" It was all he could do to just nod his head. "Because Professor Ozpin thinks that you're the best one for the job. Heck, I think so." She winked.

"B-but, why?" He asked irritably. Jaune didn't mean to sound whiny, but what made him the most qualified? Between the calm and coordinated Lie Ren and the prodigy student Pyrrha Nikos, it made little sense. "I-I'm not very brave, Ruby. Grimm terrify me, I'm much weaker compared to everyone else, and I make so many mistakes. I'm not like Pyrrha, or Ren, or... you."

Ruby's eyes slightly widened, and he noticed the slightest of crimson from her cape creep onto her cheeks. She quickly shook it off, and offered him a genuinely caring smile. "And you think I'm a good example?" She asked self-deprecatingly.

"Definitely." Jaune said, without hesitation. Again, Ruby looked away, flushing at the easy praise. For Jaune, it was _very_ easy. "You're one of the best in the year's class. Your whole team loves you, has your back, and trusts you one hundred percent. And when you go out there and fight Grimm, it never fails to amaze me just how brave you can be. I'm being completely honest, Ruby. You're a natural." He complimented.

Ruby let go of his arm, but instead of stuttering at the praise, she looked down at the ground. "Heh, you're sweet, Jaune. And I mean that, but you're wrong." He raised his eyebrow skeptically, making Ruby sigh roughly.

"It may seem like I'm some sort of natural, some... _prodigy_..." She spoke that word disdainfully. "But, that's only because of the support I had. I mean, Yang is there to help me out. Believe me, I can't handle Weiss and Blake alone, I would be buried under a mountain of migraines." Jaune couldn't stop the genuine laugh from bubbling up top. Yeah, that was definitely something similar to Ren and Nora. Actually no. Nora made up for the both of them. It was because of Pyrrha and Ren that their dorm room wasn't crowded with exercise equipment and pancake platters.

"And classes, come on, Jaune!" She exclaimed. She began walking again, and he followed right beside her. "You think you're the only one to copy off your partner's notes? Weiss hates it, but she doesn't stop it."

Now that he thought about it, that made too much sense. It was well within the realms of possibility that Ruby copied off of her partner, just like he did with Pyrrha. They both sucked academically. Add onto the fact that she exceeded all physical and combat tests, she was naturally going to be at the top, next to her sister.

"All I'm saying, Jaune." They began exiting the gardens. The grounds glowed radiantly in the late afternoon sun. "Is that you're not a bad leader. I will admit... when I first met you, I had my doubts about your fighting skills." She easily dodged the lazy shoulder punch, giggling. "Now, though. I think you're alright. Really good on a sunny day. You had a bad start, but don't forgot that I did, too. Heck, Weiss didn't even like me for the first couple of days." She shivered at the thought.

"I may jump head first into every fight, but you're a good tactician. We've both got our strengths that make us pretty strong." They stopped in front of the entrance to the dormitories. She looked up at him with a cool confidence that he hoped one day he could emulate. "You seem like a late bloomer to me, Jaune. When you've found out how good you can be, then you'll realize why people follow you."

Ruby winked at him, "Good job today, Jaune." She opened the door inside. Her red cape, simple and crimson, followed suit. She left his field of vision, leaving him alone outside, alone to think. Would he eventually become the leader he so desperately wanted to become? He sure hoped so...

* * *

 _I hope to whatever Gods are out there that she's okay!_

Jaune stumbled past the disappearing corpses of the fresh Creeps towards the spot he saw her land in. That was nasty! He was expecting battering rams, not chargers with teeth!

Ren and Nora were finishing off the last Creeps foolish enough to stay. The remaining few fled into the nearby foliage, likely not to give Burūberu any more problems. But that wasn't what was on his mind right now.

"Ruby, are you alright?!" He immediately got to work on removing her clothing from the beast's iron clasp. Jaune grit his teeth as he pulled the opposing jaws apart. Ruby watched with exposed pain, but also gratitude. When the cloth broke free, Ruby gently slid it out of its mouth, and sat up.

"I...I'm alright, Jaune." He seemed to very much disagree with that assessment and offered to lift her up. She relented, wrapping her arm across his shoulder, and managing to stand on her feet again.

It was unfortunate. Gazing down at the dependent form of Ruby Rose, Jaune's helpless expression only just loosened to extreme concern. Her ruined clothing was a showcase to just how unpredictable the Grimm could be at times. This particularly ballsy Creep had decided to not launch her, but attempt a full _take down_ on her. He could only watch helplessly as her already tired body suffered the quick displacement from Semblance speed to screeching halt. He didn't even need to check his dear friend's vitals on the scroll to know that her aura was very low. She was lucky that Ren had boomeranged the charging monster before it crashed. That would have been _very bad._

Besides this, he thought at the back of his mind, the plan performed well. His improvisation was getting better, he'd give himself credit. Besides the surprise of numbers, almost everything had gone smoothly. As soon as Jaune and Nora touched the ground, the Creeps occupying the lonely clearing were shot and stabbed dead. It didn't take long for them to reunite and fulfill the next stage of the plan. Nora had been wanting to implement electricity into Magnhild for a while, and she had managed to work out a prototype with the help of Ruby. Unfortunately, the discharge it gave off didn't last long, and was only good for one hit, but that was covered up by Ruby. She launched the ecstatic bomber into the air using Crescent Rose, giving her enough falling velocity to wake up the _entire colony._

The details of the ensuing battle weren't entirely important, however the main point was that, up until the end, everything had been going fine. The sinkholes didn't catch the group off guard as they huddled into a tight coalition, the tremors in the earth their only indicators of the battle about to exhaust them. And he did feel exhausted.

Although, probably not as much as Ruby. Jaune would admit, with complete humility, and not even self-deprecatingly, that she was, and always would be, better at killing Grimm than he. The Crimson Reaper used the battlefield as her playground. Creeps, and even a few Beowolves deciding to enter the rumble, never matched the sheer ferocity she flew across the battlefield with. Even now, amputated limbs and decapitated heads littered the black soaked dirt as they limped by.

"Oh my gosh!" Nora's already nervous demeanor only skyrocketed upon seeing Ruby. Ren's analytical stare only narrowed. "Are you okay, Ruby?"

Ruby, although she paused for a minute, raised her arm in a manner that was probably supposed to reassure them. "Guys, really, I'm okay. My Aura is fine." Jaune, Nora and Ren were not convinced.

"Yeah, sure, at a healthy..." Jaune checked his scroll again and looked back at her. "11%." Slightly distraught, he stared at her, wondering to himself why she was so determined to downplay something like this.

"Had I not helped you there Ruby, that Creep may have broken through your Aura. This could've easily devolved into something much worse." Ren elaborated. Nora nodded alongside him.

"Ugh..." Ruby groaned. Jaune offered her a sympathetic smile, despite being in agreement with his teammates. "Can we just put this behind us, please? It was a freak accident, I won't be caught off guard again." Noticing his worried gaze, Ruby smiled reassuringly. "I'll be fine in a couple of hours, Jaune."

Nora shot a tense look to Ren for a second, before surveying Ruby's state. Ruby herself, lightly leaning on Jaune for support, raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Um... you may be alright, Ruby. But, your outfit isn't." Nora hesitantly commented.

Ruby took a second to process that before her body froze, and Jaune subconsciously moved his hand beneath her shoulder to steady her. She slowly looked down at herself. Jaune only just now noticed the tattered state her outfit was in, previously in panic. Her blouse was covered in grime, absorbing the dirt picked up from prowling against the ground, and the mutilated Grimm. Her skirt and backpack absorbed a fair amount of abuse. But no. Those weren't what Ruby truly cared about.

Her cloak. Specifically the cape portion. Ruby's face contorted into a mixture of contained rage and unenviable sadness. That Creep had charged at possibly the worst angle, especially with its jaws in use. The tail end was shredded, likely the bits and pieces scattered around the area they landed, and now only just barely covered her upper back. There were holes and harsh tears all over the remaining fabric, jagged from the abuse of the Grimm and the ground. The cloak portion barely held on between a couple of inches left still attached.

Jaune knew that she valued this cape greatly. He didn't know exactly for what reason, but he knew that she was very sentimental of it. It'd handled a lot of abuse over their months at Beacon, and on the road. He didn't recall anytime a Grimm had managed to get a lucky hit on her. And now, she had lost something very precious to her, as the proud crimson he'd seen plenty of times now was arranged haphazardly and pitifully against Ruby's back, barely functional anymore.

Jaune bit down on his bottom lip. Seeing Ruby's confidence break like this gripped on his heart unpleasantly. Nora and Ren offered sympathetic gazes to their friend. Nora walked up and offered to let Ruby lean on her instead for the walk back to Burūberu, and he gently lent her over. While she talked to Ruby, Jaune picked up some of the tattered pieces that were still recognizable off of the ground. Ren, casting a glance at Jaune, began leading the group back to the village. The Mayor would be pleased to hear the good news.

Still, the atmosphere of the group was going to remain awkward yet. Jaune hated when Ruby lost her spirit. That was one of the few things, besides Ren and Nora, as well as the memory of Pyrrha, that motivated him to seek justice. She was the glue keeping them going strongly. He could only do so much without her support, and he cared about her.

Jaune steeled his vision forward, just behind Ruby and Nora. After a couple of minutes walking, Ruby was moving on her own, although carrying a small limp. She tracked the dirt against her boots, kicking it up on their way back. He frowned. He'd come up with something back at Burūberu.

* * *

"-Okay then... I double checked to make sure the color palette remained as close as possible to the original fabric. Here's the yarn you requested, and the remains of the cape is in the back. I think it should be said that it isn't often that orders fall short of the actual fabric." The woman said with a thick Mistralian accent

Jaune sighed, relieved. "That's great. Thank you so much." He bowed, grateful..

He really appreciated the fact that Burūberu not only afforded them nice lodging, but that it was a moderately well-equipped town. Seriously, most settlements that their impromptu group of travelers passed through were stocked with the bare minimum to survive. Now though, Jaune realized, they were entering closer and closer into more civilized lands. Unfortunately, most of the surrounding woodlands were still teeming with Grimm. However, it seemed that the closer they got to the Capital City, the less shadows they had to remain vigilant of, which was a welcome change. And of these better equipped shops, Burūberu fortunately included a fabric producer.

Jaune delicately placed his hands beneath the bowl of yarn balls. They should've been more than enough for what he was going to do, and he was nervous. He didn't want to mess this up in the slightest.

The blonde woman in the fine short sleeve and traditional brown skirt chuckled, but bowed in custom. Jaune watched as she came from behind the wooden counter to his side and patted him on the back. "If you need to, I have a loom in the back." She proceeded to lead him behind the front of the store. "You're allowed to use it after closing hours. Just come in before the sun sets and I'll let you use it for as long as you need."

Jaune's eyes widened in wonderment, surprised at the generosity being gestured to him. He was going to ask her, of course, but so readily? "I uh... Thank you! That's really nice. Um, but, why let a stranger in so easily?"

"Haha," the kind woman laughed with slight amusement. She guided him through the wooden hallway, short of the door. "You and your friends are practically a Godsend to this village, my friend. Those Creeps have been causing headaches for the farmers for months now. I almost fell in to a sinkhole a week before thanks to them, were it not for my nephew's quick reflexes. I think that after years of watching travelers come and go, it's easy to differentiate the good from the bad ones. And your company is certainly the good sort. I was sorry to hear about the young woman's cape."

"Besides," Jaune didn't like the knowing look in the woman's eyes. "You seem to me a Mother's boy. You wouldn't ask for balls of yarn from the only person who knows how to make clothing around here, at least I hope so, without some knowledge of looming." The woman said knowingly, winking.

Jaune blushed at the woman's perception. But really, what was he expecting? To be discreet in the eyes of everyone else? There weren't many practical applications of yarn outside of looming it. Well, Nora would strongly disagree, but that was beside the point.

She opened the door into her workshop. Honestly, it held a nice atmosphere. The walls were decorated meticulously well. Frames of family pictures and a couple of landscape portraits spaced evenly around the painted room, giving a homely aura. The calming blue walls glowed in the strong light of the descending sun. There were various instruments strung against the borders, including the aforementioned Loom. Next to it a couple of feet away was an equally used Spinning Wheel, the wood showing signs of slight decay, but also good maintenance. On the other end of the room, below another picturesque window near the ceiling was a table with multiple utensils and a sink. It looked to be a station meant to clean out the greige after the yarn was woven. Various chemicals, including bleach, stood ready for attention.

Jaune looked back to the woman, who wore an easygoing smile. "I can't thank you enough, ma'am. I promise, I won't make myself a burden."

"I have a feeling you won't," she chuckled out, leaning against the nearby wall. "Especially since this is for the girl."

"Oh! Uh..." Jaune stuttered, fiddling his fingers together. He blushed slightly, cursing at himself for being so obvious. "You mean Ruby?"

"Ruby, is that her name?" She asked. "That's a fine name for the lass. A strong one for sure. I take it you care about her?" She asked the obvious question.

Jaune didn't feel awkward or unsure over this one. "Yeah, of course. She's a really close friend of mine. I know that her hood and cape meant a lot to her. It's probably tearing her up inside..."

The woman smiled knowingly at him. She scrunched up her face for a moment, thinking something to herself, before lightly shaking her head. "Well then, it sounds like she's important to you."

"All of my friends are." Jaune allowed his guard down, his mind inching closer to a more troubling topic. "They're who I have. Ren and Nora, the other two, are also really important to me, and I... They're uh..."

The Weaver's smile fell, sensing the darker tone. "I take it you children experienced some... _troubles_ some time back? I-I don't mean to assume."

Troubles would be to categorize Beacon lightly. Jaune's frown only deepened as he turned to the side, clenching and unclenching his hands in an internal debate. Should he talk about it? He had kept Ren and Nora away at arms length on the issue, although he hated to admit it. Talking about it with them... just wasn't an appealing nor worthwhile action for Jaune. And he knew for **certain** that Ruby wouldn't want to talk about it. But, was there any harm in letting this woman, a stranger, aware of his problem?

At a first thought, his mind vehemently denied the proposal. On a second, still reluctant, he considered it. It wasn't as if he would likely ever talk to this woman again, or she would even remember him they did. Was there truly any harm in sharing the light details? The woman was in her early-forties, he guessed. She wasn't a fortune teller, or a hidden philosopher disguised as a shop keeper. At least, he hoped not. She was a weaver, a cloth maker, an experienced woman with many more years under her belt than he had. He supposed, if there weren't any consequences, there wasn't anything stopping him besides a disturbed conscience.

He scratched the back of his head, the tell tale sign of his nervousness and reluctance. "Yeah, we have... Have you heard anything about the Fall of Beacon?"

"Young man," she said sternly, although not unkindly. "I don't believe there's a single person in Remnant who's unaware of the Attack on vale. Keep in mind, that while all our scrolls our much less useful now that the CCT Tower's down," she loosely grabbed her own from a shirt pocket. "Words fly. Travelers coming from the West shared mighty stories of invading Grimm and terrorism. But, you're talking about Beacon specifically, aren't you?"

Jaune kept the details light. There was no need to recite his life's story to her, despite her kindness. He told her about how he and his friends were former Beacon students. He said 'former' because, despite his hope for the future, he sincerely doubted that Beacon would be opening again for quite some time. He skimmed through the Vytal Festival Tournament, the White Fang and Grimm at Beacon, and of course his partner's death.

The woman listened thoughtfully, her trademark easiness replaced by a grim curiosity, and sympathy. The latter was one he tried not to focus too much on. It was already a leap of faith for the Arc to open up his troubles. Although he was extremely grateful that the woman didn't offer a meaningless "I'm sorry," or "Poor dear." Being looked down upon for his past and his efforts always unsettled Jaune, and that likely wouldn't ever leave him.

"I believe I'm seeing the picture clearer now. Thank you for sharing that with me." He appreciated her straightforwardness on the matter. "It seems to me that you care a lot about your friends. You hate seeing them upset."

"That's right," Jaune agreed readily. "My friends have always had my back, and I need to do the same for them. Beacon kind of hit us hard, and we're trying to figure things out, but..." He lifted his arm up, trying to find the right words, but he let it fall back to his side. "I need to be at their side right now. And that means looking out for them. Ruby's lost a lot, and I want to look out for her."

The Weaver nodded. "I see. And, what about you and your late friend?"

"Huh?" Jaune blurted out, confused, and a tad defensive. "What, uh, what does Py- she have to do with this...?"

She likely caught his stutter, but didn't comment. Instead, she offered the confused blond her limited wisdom. "All I'm asking is how much you've thought about yourself. Now, don't take my words out of hand. Looking after your friends, especially that crimson girl is very sweet. Being considerate of others is a wonderful, wonderful thing. That's a sign of a good person. But, have you thought to just sit down and think about things? About how her passing left you?"

Jaune's eyes narrowed at her. The woman was right in that he valued his friends' safety over his own. He'd do so much for them. Although, it wasn't as if he was in an unhealthy state. He ate every ration he was given, he treated every battle with caution, nothing was inherently 'bad' regarding his behavior. Was he avoiding the topic of Pyrrha deliberately? Probably. The thought of talking about her with his friends was an uncomfortable one. But, was it so bad to just think about her, let his thoughts out into the air?

"Since you shared a story about yourself, I suppose it's only fair if I do the same." Tired from standing up for so long, the blonde woman walked towards the cleaning station, where she pulled out the chair and sat down. "I'll try not to make this too long, I'm already eating away at our time." She cleared her throat. "Two Winters ago, my youngest son died to illness. He was 13 years old. He was the town's little helper, always running around, trying to find activities to pass the time. O-our doctor said that he had a weak immune system, and though he was pretty strong, the disease hit him hard."

"He- um, Atsuo, was bedridden the entire time..." He could see the Weaver found difficulty recounting this strenuous point of her life. He waited for her to continue. "I stayed at his side the whole time. His father and two brothers also offered their support, but I didn't want to leave him alone. Thankfully, a friend of mine stood for my shop while I was with him. We just sat down and talked. I was hopeful that he'd make a recovery, and he was too. But, a week later it started to become obvious. He was dying. I wouldn't want you or anyone to have seen me by the end." She chuckled weakly, finding it easier to tell.

"Um..." Jaune muttered. She smiled up at him, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. The Arc just threw the caution away somewhere else. The woman was understanding, and she'd likely not respond negatively to bluntness. "How did you cope with your son's death?"

"It was difficult. It never isn't, you should know. You probably know the early part of the process: Denial, pain, anger. Keep in mind, a person's response to a loved one's death varies in... I guess the response and time." She supposed. It seemed that she had only dealt with a loved one's death once. The village of Burūberu was well protected compared to most occupied ditches called villages he'd visited. And the atmosphere was fairly positive, being along a direct trade route from Mistral, so the mortality rate from Grimm attacks was probably very low. Besides maybe her parents, which was an inevitability anyway, the only death that plagued her life was probably her son's.

"Would you like to know what I learned?" The woman asked Jaune, her voiced laced with a serious proposal. The Arc nodded sharply. "What I learned is that you need to learn to let your partner go. As in, address your feelings, how their death made you feel. Then you accept it. I know, it sounds cheap and not helpful at all. Thinking about it long enough, you understand that death happens, even to your loved ones. Your life is your biggest priority."

Addressing his feelings... Letting go... They hurt to hear. In fact, his stomach felt like flipping and leaping inside until he became nauseous enough to puke. But, she was right. How was he going to do that, though? And away from everyone else? If Jaune was to address his feelings, then he'd prefer to do it on his own.

"And your friends, cherish them. They care about you, that's obvious. Just try not to smother them in that care!" She laughed goodheartedly, getting up from her seat.

Wait, what...? "Hold on." Jaune said. The woman's smile faded again, this time in simple curiosity. "What do you mean by 'don't smother them in that care?' They're my friends. I'm not smothering them!" He called out, genuinely unsettled.

"Oh!" She patted her hand against her forehead a couple of times, probably for not elaborating. "What I meant was to remember that they're your teammates. You caring about them is hardly a bad thing, but they can take care of themselves. I just got the impression that you're the protective kind of person." She teased. "I was like that, too. I fussed with Atsuo so much while he was in bed. When you lose someone, you suddenly think about everyone you care about being gone and freak out. That happened to me."

"I was a mess for months. And when I found the strength to work again, it was all my husband and sons could do to tell me that I was getting worried for no reason. Your teammates are strong people. My advice is to find some time to sort your feelings, and try to avoid smothering your loved ones with too much care."

Jaune stared down at the ground, but didn't nod.

The Weaver took a look at the window and whistled, followed by an astounded laugh. "Goodness, sorry for taking up all the time! The sun's already gone!" Stepping up beside her, Jaune was impressed by the saying of 'time flies,' because it really did. The shining sun that whatever time ago lit up the room with a bright radiance was now replaced by the rising shattered moon. Luminescent blue bathed the world, offering the only light besides the lanterns and candles within the sprawling horizon of homes. He'd get to work on the cloak tonight.

"Anyway, use the workshop for as long as you need it. I just hope you won't be here in the morning. I have a shop to run! Be on your way then." The woman joked.

Jaune barked out a short laugh, eased up from his usual tenseness. The woman kindly left the workshop, closing the door behind her with a creak.

Sighing out loud, Jaune walked up to the Loom, retrieving some red yarn out of the bowl, and got to work. The movements felt familiar, like greeting an old friend after a long hiatus. His movements, while rusty from lack of use, quickly became comfortable as his fingers mirrored the instructions that they'd worked through dozens of times once. Having such a large household size and being the son of his mother, Jaune was forced to work with fibers and yarns from a young age. Self-sufficiency and all that. He wished that his father would've been more willing to impart his knowledge, since he desired nothing more than to be a hero as a kid. Jaune shrugged carelessly, thankful that Beacon and his short time on the road was enough of a teacher to filled in the lost time of years of combat negligence.

A lot of what the Weaver said was true. Her words weren't particularly eye opening. Deep inside, the Knight knew that he'd have to address these feelings at some point. He just... didn't want to. The thought hurt him. They hurt him right now. But he couldn't keep holding it off. Jaune wouldn't burden his friends with this problem, not when he needed some time alone to think. To feel better. And to **become** better.

But, picking apart that last piece of advice the Weaver gave him, he found himself in disagreement. An image of Ruby, battered and bruised on the ground appeared in his head. The horror he felt back at Beacon when he saw the painful expressions on Nora and Ren's faces when he joined the relief effort burdened his senses. Everything he cared about looked hurt in his head. He loomed the red yarn together like the red blood leaked before his eyes. The red sash and the red cape came into mind. Smiles, brimming with confidence, filled his heart with purpose.

No, he couldn't stop caring. Not ever. The woman's grief was not his own, and as she said herself, everyone responded to the pain differently. She had changed from her loss. Well, so would he, his way.

The night spent itself away. And Jaune's thoughts, while muddled and confused, did find peace in that certainty.

* * *

He knocked gently on the door. "Rubes? Are you in there?"

Removing his one free hand, he looked down at the bag in his hand. The team was departing. Yesterday was the last day they'd spend in this town. Thankfully, everyone did not stay solemn for long. Ruby continued to put on a strong face for her team, insisting that they get a move on. Ren accepted her desire to put this behind them. It seemed that Jaune and Nora were the two who showed the most outward reluctance. Similar to his previous refusal to think too much about Pyrrha, it wasn't pleasant to watch their normally enthusiastic leader slump from such a loss. Nora talked to her privately, but it didn't seem that Ruby liked to be prodded. Jaune hid his concern behind a demeanor of acceptance. But, today, it would be different.

The door opened following a symphony of what sounded like buckles tightening from inside the room. Ruby's friendly smile widened in happiness upon seeing him, and he happily accepted and reciprocated.

"Hey, Jaune. Don't worry, I'm almost finished." She wore her usual white blouse and skirt combination which looked pristine and clean. It was always nice having access to some form of plumbing. Ruby and Nora had finally found some time to freshen up and shake off the dust and grime of their travels. Of course, Ruby still wasn't one to indulge in the tedious task for too long, unlike Nora. Some things didn't change.

She beckoned him in, leaving the door open. She seemed to quickly double check everything making sure she left everything the way she found them. Ruby, and he to an extent, hated to be any liability to a host who offered them shelter. "I just need to find my backpack and we can get going. Have you talked to Ren and Nora yet? Ugh, we've spent too long here when we could've made some headway on Haven!" She pressed her hands against her temples before throwing them upward. "I'm just ready to get a move on! Sorry Jaune, just let me find my bag and-"

"Geez, Ruby!" He gently grabbed her arm, immediately stopping her accidental rant. He laughed heartily. "Haha, slow down! We're not in a rush." He showed the bag in his free hand. "I've got it right here. So-"

She snatched it out of his grip. "Thank you, Jaune! Man, what would I do without you guys? Just give me a sec to make sure everything's inside." She hastily began unzipping the bag.

Jaune's pupils seemed to shrink in fear. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! He reached out. "No! Ruby, wait! I-"

Her frustrated face seemed to melt instantly. Jaune slowly let his outstretched hand drift back down, limp. Instead, it catapulted to his face, which began to heat up. Peeking through his semi-open hand, Jaune watched as Ruby's eyes remained wide in disbelief.

"Hey guys!" The voice of Nora sang behind him. "What's going on?" He didn't look behind him, but the silence from her end (and likely Ren's end) indicated their curiosity.

This wasn't how he wanted this to go. At all! What guy did?! He wanted to talk to her for a little bit, maybe ask how she was doing. Make some smalltalk to ensure that the conversation that was about to come didn't come flying in with a copy of Ruby's Semblance.

The permeating silence suddenly crashed when Ruby's movements became erratic. Dropping the bag, she pulled out the one article of clothing that mattered to her more than anything else in that moment.

Jaune couldn't help but watch, mouth agape at her. Her reaction was much stronger than he thought it'd be. Whatever sentiment Ruby felt for this cape, it showed brightly to everyone who watched her. She stumbled back, clumsy only for that one second as she caught herself on the back foot. Her unique Silver eyes seemed to blend behind a fog of extreme confusion, happiness, and moisture. She looked so... happy. A warm feeling spread through his chest as his friend redirected her attention to him.

"H..H-how did y-you...?" Her stuttering voice carried snapped him out of his stupor, and carried a rare weakness he'd not heard before. The _absolute closest_ he'd ever heard from her was when she called him from Patch to meet up. She'd been sad and hesitant, asking him, Ren and Nora on this journey, but whereas then she was fixated on tragedy, now it was something far more personal.

Jaune found immediate interest in the ground. In that moment, he couldn't stand to see her beautiful eyes look at him in such a way. It was an unconscious thought to consider them beautiful, but he didn't notice. "Ruby... watching you be sad over the last few days has been hard. I know, you said it was okay, that it wasn't anyone's fault. And that may be true. But... I know that your cloak meant a lot to you, how you always carried it with you... So, I made a new one with what remained. With a few extra pieces. I hope you don't mind." He chuckled weakly.

The reborn accessory stayed as true to the original design as he could. The Arc wasn't as experienced as making capes and such compared to dresses and cotton shirts. However, during the Winter months, Jaune's younger sisters would usually get icy cold playing outside. Armed with sewing lessons from his mother, he fashioned multiple scarves for each of them, designs reflecting their youthful personalities. So, he modeled the cloak after a scarf. The fabric would wrap cozily around its wearer instead of by a clip, being more comfortable and less pully on the host in a fight. He had extra yarn to spare, so this one was longer by a factor of about 20%. Meaning, instead of stopping just above her knees, it reached down to the ankles, but not quite far enough to her feet.

Ruby looked at him with such a strong look of... gratitude, that he couldn't quite look at her eyes. Her eyes scrunched, holding tightly down on her lip. Her arms were actually shaky, the freshly made cloak shuddering in her vice grip. Surprising him greatly, Ruby laid the cloak onto the bed, before running up to him with uncontrolled joy.

She didn't run up to hug him with her Semblance, but her hold on him was tight. Not enough to be uncomfortable, thankfully. The message behind it was very clear, though. The way her arms wrapped around his midsection, the way her head pressed against him, words didn't need to tell him how much he'd done a very good thing. A warm bubble of happiness popped inside of him, and he reciprocated their shared elation for what felt like a long time.

Nora (and likely Ren) didn't say a word, and he liked to picture a small smile plaster on Ren's face, and the widest grin on Nora's ready to explode at any second.

Finally, after a very long period of bodily contact, they separated. Ruby rested her hand against his arm. And her eyes, the bright orbs of silver stared up at him that made all of those tedious hours in the workshop worthwhile.

"I-I, this is really... I-it's really hard to say..." Ruby kept lapsing over her own sentences. He understood well enough that she was trying to voice her thanks as she paced in front of her bed. Looking at it again, she carefully picked it up and pressed it against her chest. "You did this for me?"

Jaune smiled, a confidence showing through him that always appeared with Ruby. "Absolutely, Rubes. These last few days have been bad ones, so while we were staying, I thought, why not?"

Ruby playfully waved her hand dismissively. "I know how long it takes to weave a beanie cap, but my entire cloak? That's too much trouble, especially for me, Jaune."

Jaune frowned at her dismissiveness. Did she really think herself not worthy of his time, being his friend? In the last few weeks, conversation didn't seem to quite click between them outside of strategy talk and battle tactics, but he still considered her his closest friend outside of Ren and Nora. Heck, perhaps even more than them, he was almost sorry to say.

"You're worth it, Ruby." Letting the frown go, he ruffled her hair. She appeared playfully annoyed with him, before lightly swatting his hand away. "Now, are you going to accept it, or not?"

Ruby looked back down to the cloak. Her eyes turned distant, staring down at the red fabric. It was quite a pretty cloak, if he did say so himself. The reattachment of the original to the new one took some work, but now you could barely see the remains of the tattered pieces. At first glance, it seemed like just a brand new cloak. Ruby's gaze turned thoughtful, and he looked behind him at last. Nora was there, and as he suspected, so was Ren. He beckoned them inside, and they hesitantly entered, continuing to watch Ruby's blank expression. For a moment, he was worried. About what, he had no idea whatsoever. She had responded so positively upon seeing it, it was beyond illogical to think she'd deny it now.

Ruby's hard set gaze seemed to assure to herself, since she nodded in response to whatever she was thinking. She looked at him with a worried gaze. He had to raise his eyebrow, giving her a deadset expression that silently asked her what she was doing. Finally, making up her mind, she did something none of them were expecting.

She reached to the tail end of the cloak, and pulled a portion out.

Everyone else gasped, unconsciously stepping back in shock. Jaune let out a strangled moan that sounded jaggedly close to something between a 'what' and a 'why.' The rip wasn't a clean one, but Ruby didn't appear bothered at all by it. Ren, in a rare moment of disbelief, stared at her dubiously. Nora looked ready to shout out a string of words that would force everyone in the room, and likely in the lodging, to cover their ears. Jaune wanted to know what the Hell she was doing.

Ruby, although blushing from neck to cheek, casually put on the cloak. Jaune, Ren and Nora took a look, briefly forgetting their shock, looked at her. It was a look that, strangely enough, fit her. The scarf portion gave her outfit a much more realistic appearance without a clip holding it all together, and despite being ripped, it was still longer than the original. The diagonal rip also made the design look cooler, in Jaune's opinion. Speaking of the rip, Jaune's gaze fell onto the lone cloth that remained. She cradled it in her cupped hands, before looking up at him.

She stepped up to him, only stopping barely a foot in front of him. She stretched her hands out, offering the cloth to him. "Thank you for caring, Jaune."

His mind had melted into pudding. It was instinct that guided his hand to gently grab it. It was a bright crimson, soft yet firm. Just like Ruby, in a way. Kind of like Pyrrha...

"I uh..." Jaune whispered.

The road didn't care about sentimentalism. But he did now. And so did Ruby. Her eyes, as well as Nora and Ren's sized up his reaction. He closed his eyes behind a veil that he needed to hide behind. Just to process these incredible moments without allowing the tears to fall. He wouldn't allow himself to cry right now. He was grateful. Ruby was happy again. Ren and Nora were happy for the two of them. There was a reason to be hopeful for the future again. Because while they should remind themselves about the events in their pasts, the future was theirs to grasp. The leader pair were ready to take on these upcoming challenges. Together.

Red had really become entwined with his life. He glanced up. Simple Blue met beautiful Silver.

"Thank you. And, you're welcome." He said, sincerely.

* * *

 _ **Aaaaand... We're done... With the warm-up! (No, just kidding, I've written enough for this) This was a long one, and I'm quite proud of finishing and releasing Fabricated Connection. I've been working on this since February I think, but only just got the burst of energy required to complete it recently. Thanks for sticking around for this if you read this far. It means so much to me.**_

 _ **Previously mentioned Disclaimer: Okay... I realize that Jaune's sash is very likely not torn from Ruby's cloak. This is what I initially believed, but after comparing their color codes, I realized I was wrong. But still, this is AU, and you can technically connect this to the universe I wrote An Unlucky Quarrel with. I acknowledge the fact that it is not cut from the same cloth (hehe) as Ruby's cloak, but for the sake of a story, I wrote it in here anyway.  
**_

 _ **I hope the interactions with the weaver didn't last too long. I initially wasn't planning on including some sort of lesson or prelude to Jaune's training in this one-shot. It sort of included itself in. Besides, I felt that establishing a an earlier event to justify Jaune's training in Chapter 2 made a certain amount of sense, so I did. Most of the advice given to Jaune by her is sound, but one thing that should be noted is that the woman didn't lose a friend or her husband. She lost her youngest son.**_

 _ **Ask yourself, how similar would Jaune, a 17-year old Huntsman student, and the Weaver, an almost middle-aged mother, have in common in terms of experiencing grief? Jaune is notorious, especially recently, for being a cautionary strategist. He approaches most situations with patience and care. Sometimes that can come off a bit strongly, especially in contrast to Ruby's straight-forward, throw everything behind her rose petals approach. I feel that, as he continues to travel and debate how important Pyrrha was to him, and how much he cares for his team, and Ruby is particular, he wouldn't quite take that last piece of advice. This woman isn't a psychiatrist; she's the village's clothes provider, who just so happens to have experience with loss.**_

 _ **Again, this was Lancaster. It was interesting to add in the nod to Pyrrha as well. If you want to put symbolism to everything, Pyrrha is his past, Ruby is his future, and all that symbolic stuff that we feverishly search for in the show for hints and foreshadowing. This was to showcase Ruby and Jaune's care for one another, about how there's a certain level of understanding driving them and the team forward. It, unfortunately, like An Unlucky Quarrel, was not a Romance. Shoehorning it within the serious tones of this particular story would've been in bad taste. Although, I do have good news.**_

 _ **Have any of you read the work of Anonymous Prick 3 (Keter Metatron)? The author of such fantastic stories Lunar Rose and Committed To the Act? Well, he and I have been chatting on the RWBY Amino and Discord, and recently we decided to write a story together! How awesome is that?! It will be Lancaster again, only this time, it will contain romance. I won't spoil the contents of what we have planned, although you can check out my profile for details. We've done some amazing work so far, and we hope you're excited!**_

 _ **Anyway, enough said, I suppose. This was an enjoyable one-shot to write, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed yourself. Hope you didn't cringe. Remember to keep your eyes out on a future story from Anonymous and me. We've agreed to host it under my profile. Anyway, have a good day, and good reading!**_


End file.
